 Barked: Mon Nov 12, '12 3:56pm PST |
 | |  | | You know your dogs better than anyone, but I personally find it better to leave my puppy in a kennel when I'm gone. Kennels vary A LOT in how good they are... some will just lock your dog in a crate for 23 hours a day, and some let your dog run around and socialize with other dogs all day. I've even found a couple kennels where the dogs are together 24 hours a day in a big area! There are even places which will read your dog a bed-time story and play "pet friendly" movies (which I think is pretty unnecessary).
I think if you can find a good kennel, it's always better to have your dogs supervised all day and running around with other dogs than left alone, locked up for days on end. My pup really loves socializing, and I'm sure it makes him forget all about me. The kennel I use lets the dogs play all day (which can be watched on a webcam), and give report cards on pick-up that cover everything about the dog's stay, including each meal eaten, who he played with, and anything else that might happen.
That beings said, like you can imagine there are some really awful kennels out there which are probably worse than being in a shelter. Make sure you check a kennel out (don't go by their website), and get a feeling for the staff and how happy the dogs are, and obviously don't leave your dogs in a kennel that makes you even a little bit uncomfortable.
And for what it's worth, the kennel cough vaccine is usually given intranasally, so it probably won't be a "shot". |  |  | |  |
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